FanHouse TomMoore

Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. " We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

For most franchises, 12 wins is a banner year; one they can hang their proverbial hats upon. For the Colts, 12 wins is a certainly. They have won at least 12 games in each of the last six seasons. They have also had Tony Dungy as their head coach for the past seven years, but now he's gone. In 2009, the Colts will look for some continuity. Can it be provided by the Jim Caldwell administration?

Over the past decade, the Indianapolis Colts have been one of the most successful franchises in sports. Some constants (Peyton Manning, for example) are easily identifiable to the casual football fan, while others are not. Howard Mudd is part of the latter group.

Mudd is a 67-year-old offensive line coach. He has been with the Colts since 1998. Along with offensive coordinator Tom Moore -- who also started with the Colts in '98 -- Mudd retired in May due to concerns with the NFL's pension plan. The Colts then brought both back under different titles, though they will hold the same duties this upcoming season. For Mudd, 2009 will be his last season as a football coach.

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet the ...
Team under Peyton's leadership for the first time without Tom Moore*. That's right. Peyton's only offensive coordinator for his entire 11-year career has been the venerable Moore. Moore's first year at the helm was Manning's rookie season, so the two grew together. It's going to be interesting to see how Manning fares without his mentor calling the shots.

Of course, Manning's obviously cerebral enough to deal quite well with the transition, and the Colts have enough weapons in their arsenal to remain the high-octane offense we're used to seeing every fall.

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The Indianapolis Colts are one of the premier franchises in the NFL at the present. Since 1999, they've made the playoffs and won 10 games in all but one season. They've won at least 12 games in the past six. They've had offensive coordinator Tom Moore and offensive line coach Howard Mudd in place during that entire timespan. Tony Dungy was the head coach for the past seven. All three have now departed.

Their replacements are Jim Caldwell (head coach), Clyde Christensen (offensive coordinator) and Pete Metzelaars (offensive line coach). Translation: The Colts just drastically downgraded at three very important coaching positions.

The Indianapolis Colts have already had to replace their head coach this off-season. Now they're in danger of losing two of their most important assistants as well.

Ron Meeks has served as the Colts' defensive coordinator since 2002. Despite having a largely inconsistent defense -- especially run defense -- over most of that time, he's still been held in quite a high esteem when it came to getting sniffs for potential head coaching positions. In fact, the Jets, for one, were interested earlier this year.

Under rampant speculation, and a report from ProFootballTalk, that Meeks was about to be fired from his post by newly appointed head coach, Jim Caldwell, Meeks stepped down Tuesday.

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I don't understand. The Saints let fan favorite John Carney go because he was "losing his leg." With Martin Gramatica cut, Taylor Mehlhaff will be their third kicker in 21 games. Please explain the logic?
- Roy H., Jackson, MS

I have to admit: I've held a longtime grudge against Carney for botching the River City Relay, and was glad that he was let go before the 2007 season. But that turned out to be a colossal mistake. He's been 24-of-26 in various stops since leaving New Orleans, while Olindo Mare and Gramatica went a combined 21-of-32 as Saints. It's been so bad I was even hoping for the team to re-sign Carney with his release from the Giants looming. Alas, they went with their 2008 sixth-round pick, who lost his job in the summer to Gramatica. So I'm not sure how much confidence that inspires, but the Saints drafted Mehlhaff originally to solidify the kicking game for a long time, and he'll have another chance at that.

When the news broke in mid-July that Peyton Manning would be out 4-6 weeks after having knee surgery, the focus immediately turned to his backup, Jim Sorgi. The fifth-year pro out of Wisconsin seems perfectly capable of stalking the sidelines and feigning interest during the regular season, but anything more than mop-up duty is cause for alarm among the Colts faithful.

And then Sorgi goes down with a bum leg during the preseason -- nothing serious, but enough to keep him out of action just in case you-know-who isn't ready for the regular season -- meaning that there's a very real chance Jared Lorenzen or Quinn Gray make the final 53.

Didn't happen. Manning declared he'll play in Week 1, Sorgi will resume his rightful place next to Tom Moore, and J-Load and ThrowPix6 are out of work. To be fair, neither player showed much in the last month; Lorenzen played like he was hungover on cake, and Gray threw enough interceptions to make you think he was really left-handed.

In less depressing news, sixth-round pick Mike Hart made the roster. In fact, every one of the Colts' '08 selections are currently on the team, which is pretty impressive.